City will triumph says former boss

Endorsement from a former manager, transfer targets, documentaries and reaction – there’s a bit of everything in this morning’s media round-up.

There’s plenty to get through so let’s begin with ex-City boss Roberto Mancini and his thoughts on the title race pundits are calling ‘the most open in years’.

Mancini, speaking to West London sport after his side Galatasaray were beaten 2-0 by Chelsea in the Champions League has tipped the Blues – Sky Blues that is – to sneak over the line first in May.

The report reads: “Mancini tipped his former club Manchester City to win the Premier League even after seeing his Galatasaray side outplayed by Chelsea.

“The Blues went through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League by beating the Turkish team 2-0 at Stamford Bridge and 3-1 on aggregate.

“Chelsea were hugely impressive, showing the kind of form that has put them top of the table, four points clear of second-placed Liverpool.

But Mancini still believes City, currently fourth but with three games in hand, will regain the title they won under him in 2012.

“The Italian said: ‘Manchester City are the best team and have the best players. Liverpool are doing very well at this moment but I think it will be a fight between Chelsea and Man City and I think City has the best chance.’”

That’s what we like to hear.

Elsewhere and slightly off-topic, US TV station NBC are set air a City special this weekend that sounds well worth catching.

The question is, does this mean Hollywood will come calling for our much-loved kit manager Chappy?

Soccertalk takes up the story: “NBC Sports Group will debut its first Premier League 36 series this Sunday with the release of its documentary about Manchester City.

“City opened its doors to NBC for 36 hours to let their crew film the on- and off-field activities at Manchester City FC. The program will be shown on Sunday, March 23 at 3:30pm ET (check NBC website for local timings).

“The first-ever Premier League 36: Manchester City features Argentinian defender Martin Demichelis with his wife and family, as he welcomes the crew into his home, and Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko.

Next on to a couple of transfer rumours, both vastly different and one we’ve heard more than once while the other, not so often if at all.

We’ll begin with the latter – a tenuous link maybe, but aren’t they all?

The Daily Mirror write: “Everton's Roberto Martinez is ready to offer Seamus Coleman a lucrative new long-term contract to keep him from the clutches of Europe’s top clubs.

“The Republic of Ireland international has attracted strong interest from Manchester United, Arsenal and Manchester City.

“But manager Martinez is determined to build the Toffees' future around the promising talent at the club, and he insisted he will offer new deals to all of his exciting young stars to ensure they stick around for the long term.

“He said: ‘We won’t offer encouragement to any club over Seamus. He is on a long-term contract and we want to ensure we grow together and we need players like Seamus.’”

The IB Times meanwhile continue with the suggestions that City are monitoring the situation with Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

Until the Argentine superstar says otherwise, don’t expect these rumours to fade away just yet.

They write: “Leo Messi has reportedly asked Barcelona for more than £400,000 a week to commit his future to the Nou Camp, with recent reports in Spain claiming that Manchester City are monitoring the negotiations should the Argentinian star finally decided to leave La Liga.

“Even though Messi scored a hat-trick in the latest Barcelona 7-0 victory over Osasuna, his future at the Nou Camp is under scrutiny, with some pundits claiming he's looked unhappy at Barcelona this season.

“Spanish newspaper El Confidencial recently revealed that City are considering breaking the bank to secure his services, with a rumoured record £200m deal in the offing.”

City’s interest in the UEFA Youth League ended at Hyde last night with a brave display from Patrick Vieira’s lads.

Benfica came from behind to snatch a late 2-1 win and Uefa.com have their coach’s respectful post-match thoughts.

They quote João Tralhão as saying: “It was two different halves. In the first half City were much better, they were comfortable on the ball and we didn't do what we had set out to do. We had to do a lot of defending and our attacking game wasn't as effective as we'd have liked.

“The second half was completely different, we didn't let City play their football. We changed our structure and our attitude. We pressed them better, didn't let them come out. We got the goals and our confidence grew as they became less confident. The team worked hard, ran hard and understood what they had to do to beat a super City side.”

Lastly, the newest member of the City family, Melbourne Heart, have re-appointed their head coach in the early hours of Wednesday morning as reported by The World Game who write: “Melbourne Heart has reappointed John van’t Schip as coach on a three-year deal, ending speculation its Manchester City-based owners would bring in a new mentor.

“Van’t Schip, Melbourne Heart FC’s inaugural coach, re-joined the club in an interim capacity in January after the sacking of John Aloisi. He will preside over the team in arguably its most exciting development period in a deal that will see him through to the 2016-17 season.

“Melbourne Heart FC Chief Executive Scott Munn said van’t Schip had demonstrated his suitability for the role by resurrecting the team’s fortunes during the past 11 rounds.”